National Fish Passage Program

Increased freshwater focus on connectivity and fish passage:

• Watershed Connectivity Remediation Planning framework and barrier remediation in B.C.
• Chinook salmon research in Upper Yukon River
• American eel research and advocacy
• Fish passage advocacy and barrier campaigns
• Development of the Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database (CABD)

What is the conservation issue?

What we know:

• Structures like dams, culverts, and dykes block the movement of fish and other species
• Barriers to fish passage are extensive across Canada
• Barriers removal needed to restore access to important habitat
• Remediation projects are expensive

What is the conservation issue?

What we don’t know:

• How many barriers exist in Canada?
• How much habitat is not accessible?
• How do we identify the most important barriers to maximize benefits?

We need comprehensive information to answer these questions

Canadian Aquatic Barriers Database (CABD)

Project Background

• CABD = central pillar of tools to support CWF’s fish passage program
• Identify and prioritize barriers for remediation
• Inspired The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) work in the northeastern U.S.

A Roadmap for Improving Connectivity

• TNC’s Northeast Aquatic Connectivity Assessment Project:
  • A database as a partnership building tool
  • Brings groups together and centralizes efforts
  • Led to significant improvements to fish passage and connectivity

Penobscot River Restoration (Maine)

• Partnership between government, Indigenous groups, NGOs, and industry
• Two dam removals and one fishway
• 2018: 2.8 million+ river herring returned

Importance of Collaboration and Engagement

• Potential uses of CABD extend beyond CWF’s needs
  • Freshwater connectivity research
  • Hydrological modelling
  • Infrastructure inventories
• CABD can improve collaboration and partnership
• Launch external engagement to get input on design

Stakeholder Engagement

• User interviews
  • What type of work could the CABD support?
  • What information would be useful?
  • How would users like to access the data?
• Working Group and Technical Advisory Committee

What will the CABD be used for?

1. Habitat status assessments and reporting (watershed → national scales)
2. Informing management and regulatory decisions
3. Restoration planning and prioritization
4. Infrastructure asset management
5. Research and monitoring
6. Education and public outreach

Data Gathering and Sharing

• CABD relies on existing repositories
  • Local in scale
  • Single barrier types
  • No standardization
• CWF provides national coordination without duplicating effort
• Establish reciprocal relationships
  • Quality and consistency to fill data gaps
  • Share data back to providers

CABD Components

1. Streams, rivers,

and lakes

2. Barrier data

3. Web map and tools

CABD Outcomes

• Open data on all aquatic barriers
• Identify high priority barriers for removal (local, regional, and national scales)
• Support connectivity research, barrier prioritization, and fish passage remediation
• Support Canada-wide collaboration on freshwater connectivity issues

Public Launch (version 1)

• Public “sneak peek” release in pilot regions: early November
• Initial release:
  • Dams, waterfalls, fishways
  • Stream and river networks
• Release remaining data through summer 2022
• Add additional barrier types in future years (e.g., stream crossings)

Current Contents

Dams Waterfalls Fishways

25,000+ 10,000+ 400+

Demo!

Next Steps

• Continue information gathering
  • Phase 1: Compile existing datasets (including stream-crossings)
  • Phase 2: Begin to fill data gaps (with input from citizen scientists!)
• Expand features in the web tool
• Develop additional tools

CWF Leadership

• Development of CABD has positioned CWF as a leader in Canada and beyond
• Multiple existing and potential collaboration opportunities across sectors

Watershed Connectivity Remediation Planning framework

• Collaborative, strategic framework to plan barrier remediation developed and piloted in B.C.
  • Watershed plans supported by data included in CABD
  • Opportunity to apply in Alberta
• Guide document for connectivity planning in Canada
• CABD will support future watershed-scale planning work

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

• DFO mandated to provide status report on fish and fish habitat in Canada (under new Fisheries Act)
  • Connectivity and fish passage is a key component
• What is the state of fish habitat connectivity in Canada?
  • Can’t currently answer that question
  • DFO has recognized CABD as critical data source to assess connectivity
• CWF can help centralize, coordinate, and modernize reporting

Natural Resources Canada

• Canada does not have a clean and connected GIS layer representing streams, rivers, and lakes
• CABD requires this layer to relate barriers to habitat gains
• CWF leading development of tools to update the National Hydro Network (NHN)
• Collaboration with NRCan → our work will be shared to improve the quality of the NHN

Environment and Climate Change Canada

• Member of the Connectivity Working Group (Pathway to Canada Target 1)
• Hosted ‘Advancing Approaches for Assessing Freshwater Connectivity in Canada’ workshop (December 2019)
• CWF contributing to:
  • Implementing Ecological Connectivity in Canada recommendations report
  • Freshwater Connectivity Indicator for Protected Areas in Canada (including CABD data)

Global Dam Watch

• International research collaborative developing comprehensive and curated dam datasets
• Similar mission to the CABD, at global scale
• CWF = member and regional data provider
• Co-authorship of paper accepted to Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability

Long-term Future of the CABD

• Continue partnership and collaboration opportunities
• Develop additional tools
• Planning for long-term management and maintenance

Additional Tools

• Barrier assessment protocols
  • Series of regional workshops in winter/spring 2022
• Research partnerships to develop tools to:
  • Identify barriers
  • Estimate passability

Additional Tools

• Barrier prioritization and reporting tools accessible through CABD webmap
• Freshwater connectivity toolbox:
  • Resources, best practices, success stories

Additional Tools

• Develop or adapt citizen science apps
• Partner and public participation to identify and assess barriers:
  1. Information entry portal - allow direct additions to CABD
  2. Mobile app - public can identify and assess barriers
• Collaboration opportunities with existing apps
  • AMBER (Europe)
  • Alberta Watercourse Crossing Inventory app

Long-term Funding, Hosting, and Management

• Current funding from DFO and RBC Foundation through 2022-23
• Development and data compilation are most expensive phases
• Long-term maintenance and updating = major challenge for databases
  • But, lower annual costs
• Future funding options:
  • Perpetual fundraising?
  • CWF endowment?
  • Hand off to government?